Hi all sorry for taking so long to reply. I've been dealing with some personal issues (leaving my drunk, violent husband). I think I said that the Tegretol was working and we increased it to 200 mg twice a day. I'm not on as much morphine and barely need breakthrough meds. Unfortunately, I STILL need the sustained release morphine which means that my doctor will be increased the Tegretol. I really need to get off the morphine. I have 4 kids and I can't live like this. I barely feel the morphine but I still hate having it in my system. I don't like the Tegretol either but it works so I guess I just deal with it.
My dentist makes me so angry. I booked a consult appointment with him and he doesn't think he had anything to do with it. He, along with my family doctor, an ENT and a oral surgeon all had a differential meeting about my case. After this meeting, my doctor told me that my dentist would be dealing with the root canal material and metallic material, either removing it himself (hell, no) or referring me to the oral surgeon. She also was certain he had damaged my trigeminal nerve but she would be handling that part of it. She has referred me to a neurologist and also spoken with a neurosurgeon in Vancouver that helped a patient of hers greatly in a very similar case.
My dentist meets with me and tells me that this differential meeting was exonerating him of any wrong doing and that root canal material is NORMAL and so is the root canal sealant. When he explained it to all those doctors, they were all nodding their head once he explained it and that it's TOTALLY FINE for this stuff to be in my sinus. The root canal sealant expands and can possibly go into the sinus and it's fine. I asked him if most root canals are supposed to have that material in sinuses and you can go look at every other root canal and the chances are high that all people have stuff in their sinuses?? He said "No no that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying I'm looking for that expansion and it's fine, It's not going to affect you. I don't see any point in going in there to fix anything. I'm not going to refer you either."
He also told me that he thinks TN is a catch-all bucket for when there's no other answer. It just means that everything else has been ruled out and that is what they call it. Idiot. He ALSO said that I said I was having nerve pain before I had the root canals, which is BS, total BS. I corrected him on that real fast. He said people just get this beforehand and that is what he thinks in this case. He said that both my teeth that he did root canals on, didn't need root canals done, they were perfectly fine. This is the first time he ever said that to me. He'd told me that the roots were inflamed and needed to be done, especially when we talked about the first root canal and going to do this second one. Cuz I was worried that the second one was the problem because I was having pain. He said no no, the first one needed work as well. This second one needs a root canal. So he's switching his story. This makes me so frustrated, you have no idea.
He kept flipping things around and I kept confronting him about his 2 sides and paraphrasing the BS he was saying and he would say "No, no, that's not what I'm saying", Then I'd ask him what he meant and he'd just say that he doesn't know what caused my pain. I asked him directly if he remembered what he was doing when I stopped the root canal the first time because of the burning. He said he was in the root canal cleaning out the root, then he quickly said he doesn't think he was that far in though.
Then he asked me what I think. I said I think he did it when that burning happened. I don't see any other explanation. The burning sensation, the nerve pain, the non-response to more freezing, the stuff in my sinus proves he went through.
Then he just turned the conversation to the medication I was on and how I wasn't responding to the Tegretol. It just made me so mad. I said I was responding to it and I'm on all kinds of pain medications and he has no kind of idea the life I'm living. He just told me that I'd get used to it and he's sorry but he doesn't know and he can't help me because he doesn't know the cause and have I even done any research on TN. I just started crying and left because my headache was coming through over everything. I can't cry or else I get pains. How lame is that?? :(
I received a referral to an oral surgeon on Nov. 4th though so maybe they can get somewhere with that. I've been writing an account of everything that happened, day by day since the root canal. Apparently, the dentist has put one in the mail for him of his own account. I'm pretty sure he's worried I'm going to go after him. Which I will but I live in Canada and medical malpractice suits are tough to win here. I have to find a lawyer that will help me and work on a contingency fee basis.
Thank you all so much for your replies. They mean so much to me. You have no idea (or maybe you do!) how great it is (and how sad, as well, this is terrible, I wouldn't wish it on my enemies) to know that there are others that know my pain and frustrations. I remember at one of my worst moments, I was laying on my bed, trying to sleep. It had already been a bad day and I was just starting morphine. My 1 year old daughter found me and tripped and fell and clonked heads with mine. My god, the pain that occured, I puked from it. It wouldn't stop and it was searing, all through the one side. It didn't matter if I laid down, stood up, in the dark, in the light, nothing. It went on for over 20 minutes and it felt like an eternity. This was overtop of the morphine, too. Everyone in the house was wondering why Mommy was screaming. I'm so sorry that you all deal with or have dealt with that kind of pain. I used to get short pains like that before I got on the meds but they'd only last a few seconds or a minute or so, particularly if I squatted to pick up my kids. I just hate knowing other people feel that and go through that.
I will look at the dentist's account and see if he lists the materials he used and check if that material you mentioned is on there. I'm going to have to pull my kids and find another dentist. I really hope that somebody can help me. :( I hate having a headache almost every day, even with the amount of meds I'm on. I may switch over to Neurontin one day? I don't know. I need to find out what dose I can subsist on Tegretol at this point and get myself off the morphine and think about switching. I will keep it in mind and mention it to my doctor. Tegretol definitely has side effects. I've been told to have a test every 3 weeks for my thyroid?
Don't worry about negative posts or seeming negative. It wasn't that bad really. :) I think we can all say we have bad days and if TN people have bad days, it's really a bad day, I know.
Anyway, sorry that was long but I had 20 minutes to myself and finally have internet again so thought I'd catch up. :)
P.S. I'd love to know about the secret handshake! :D